Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-12-10
A, SHOT AND A THRUST.
Experience of.a Confederate Piclxct-Ths
Frenxy Of Death.

Experience of a Confederate Piclct-The
Frcnxy OF Death.
When we came to throw out pickets i'm
front of our lines on the night after deal
ing the Federal army the hard blow at
second Manassas, we were right among
the dead and wounded. We had won q
victory, and the bulk of the Federal army
was making for the Potomac, but there
was rear guard which fought sullenly
and with thirst for vengeance, and along
the front of my division the blue coats
were alert and ready for any night attack
1t was about O'Clock In the evening when
my company was pushed out, and to get
the place assigned us we had to crawl ON
our hands and knees for the last 200 feet.
When finally got settled In place IL was
at the base of n shade or fruit tree stand
ing alone in an open field. A ball or shell
had struck the trunk of the tree and cut
ii in two, and portion of the top lay on
the ground The Federal picket, as l
presently ascertained, was about fifty
steps distant from me and had the cover
of heap of rails. / did not locate him
until he fired upon me. do not think he
knew of my presence, but rather mis-
trusted it.and blazed away to draw me
out.
There were dead and wounded oil about
the tree. / had crept over two dead
bodies and two wounded men had begged
me for water, and, although the evening
was very dusky, could count Mt least ten
bodies on my side of the tree. / had come
out with a full canteen, knowing that the
front was covered with wounded. Close
to me on my right was q Federal cor
poral belonging to n New York regiment.
He told me at the time the number Of his
anr,t l,rat a., 20 Ion
was shot in the right leg, midway be
tween the hip and the knee This hap
pened two hours before dark, and con-
siderably nearer our lines, and he man
aged to crawl twenty rods to get to the
shelter of the tree. 1t was only flesh
wound, and could he have been taken
into the lines that night he would have
been at for duty within thirty days.
Some men would have almost walked of
with such hurt as that, but the poor
fellow seemed knocked all to pieces and
had quite lost his courage. was holds
ing the cantecn to his lips, having raised
his head and put haversack under It,
when the Federal picket fired the shot.
The bullet crashed into the head Of the
wounded man, and with n sort Of quiver,
he fell back dead.
The incident upset me considerably,
and, being under orders not TO fire shot
unless the enemy were advancing,
hugged the ground at the foot of the tree
and remained quiet. Two more shots
were fired at me, but they were aimed too
high and went over. i had been on duty
about an hour, when the pleadings Of
wounded man about fifty feet to my left
for water determined me to succor him.
He knew of my presence and talked d.
rectly to me, saying that he was shot In
both legs and had been lying there seven
or eight hours. l left my gun on the
ground and started off on my hands and
knees. The corpse of Federal lay di-
rectly in my way, and / was just making
half circle around it when the supposed
dead man scrambled up, seized his
musket, which lay beside him, and
whirled on me with sort of scream.
You see, it all came so suddenly
that was confused, and when he came
at me / was still on my hands and knees
and helpless. He held the gun at charge
bayonets' and made an awful lunge at
me. The point of the bayonet passed
through the back of my blouse, and the
lunge pushed me over and the steel went
into the ground almost to the muzzle Of
the gun. / was thus pinned to the earth,
and the man let go of the musket and
fell across me, uttering groan Of pain as
he came down.
My position was such that could not
free myself for two or three minutes, and
when / did the man was dead for sure.
He had probably been unconscious for
long time before the frenzy Of death
caused him to attack me in the singular
manner he did. So nfmly was pinned
to the earth that / had to "skin' out of
my blouse to get free, and It took stout
twist at the butt Of the musket to pull the
bayonet out Of the hard baked soil tan
ExRebel' in Detroit Free Pres